Introduction

Hi my name is Ben Robertaccio. For the next 12 months I will be traveling on a journey around the world and reporting back to this web site on a regular basis. While I have traveled extensively in the past and enjoy writing, this trip will be something different.

You see for the past six years I have spent most of my time working as an elementary school counselor for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. During that time I also ran a tutor mentor program, lectured at a local hospital, taught guitar to children and adults after work, and spent as much time as I could playing music, biking, and pursuing other hobbies. Family and friends are also very important to me and I try to spend as much time as possible with them.

You may be wondering why I decided to leave all that and take this trip. Well, as my father would always remind me, "If you don't change, change happens to you".

Although I love my job and it affords me ample time to travel, after working six years I felt I needed a new challenge. I also realized I was in a unique position in my life that might not come around again. Although I had worked for a number of years, I was still free of from the obligations that keep many people tethered to a particular place. I didn't have to worry about mortgages, car payments, marriage or children (...at least not my own). Sure, I might be able to take time off in the future for such a trip, but now just seemed like the right time.

Why did I choose traveling around the world as my challenge of the year? The reasons are not all that profound. You see, I like to see things, experience other people and cultures, and question my understanding of the world. Mostly though, I like to put myself into situations that force wonderment - like traveling does. Pragmatically, it is difficult to see parts of the world without taking time to do so. In fact, I had to rule out large sections of the world I originally planned on traveling to because a year is not long enough to see everything.

Although I have a general framework for the trip - see the map above - the only thing I am sure about is that things will probably change along the way.

My overall goals are to accomplish the following: First, I want to see parts of the world I've never been to before and that have always seemed to call out to me. Second, since the daily work grind seems to force certain aspects of my personality into hibernation I hope this trip will allow them to emerge from their slumber. Hopefully this trip will also provide me the elusive time I never seem to be able to find at home to write my own music, and spend quality time learning from other musicians. If I am lucky, I also hope to record music with musicians I meet along the way.

During the trip, I will keep an audio and visual record of my experiences and report back to TravelPage.com as often as possible. I'm lugging around a laptop with the appropriate hardware and software to allow me to store music, photographs and notes. I am also carrying a guitar.

At this point I am not sure exactly what to expect, but I invite you to join me on my journey. Check back often for reports and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or suggestions of people or places to visit during the trip.

Contact Ben